Editing Pennsylvania Railroad (section)

== Origins and Growth ==

The Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered on April 13, 1846, as Pennsylvania's response to competition from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which threatened to divert western trade from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The state had previously relied on a combined canal and railroad system (the Main Line of Public Works) to connect Philadelphia with Pittsburgh, but this obsolete infrastructure could not compete with through rail routes. The PRR was organized as a private corporation, though one closely aligned with state interests, and received authorization to build a railroad across the Allegheny Mountains—one of the most challenging engineering projects undertaken in America to that date.<ref name="burgess">{{cite book |last=Burgess |first=George H. |last2=Kennedy |first2=Miles C. |title=Centennial History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 1846-1946 |year=1949 |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Company |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

The railroad reached Pittsburgh in 1854, completing the through route from Philadelphia. Under the leadership of J. Edgar Thomson, president from 1852 to 1874, the PRR expanded aggressively, acquiring connecting railroads, building new lines, and creating an integrated system that eventually extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. Thomson established the managerial practices and corporate culture that distinguished the PRR: careful engineering, conservative finance, attention to detail, and a self-image as the best railroad in America—hence "The Standard Railroad of the World." His successor, Tom Scott, and later Alexander Cassatt continued the expansion, making the PRR the dominant force in eastern railroading.<ref name="stover"/>